i've been thinking about ron wilson and how much i like him being the leafs coach. an i very glad to have him as coach instead of paul maurice. but my question is in the last 20 years who do you think the leafs best coach has been?

Everyone is so in love with Ron Wilson, I like him too, but it's just because he's new and he's working with new faces on the ice. There is always a honeymoon period in these sorts of situations. Toronto loved Maurice too when he first arrived, let's not forget.

That being said, I have to agree Quinn's numbers speak for themselves, and some may argue that it was because we bought talent, but to that I say A) c'mon how good was that talent really? B) Buying players didn't work for other teams, i.e the Rangers

Ron Wilson has the most job security in the NHL today. He came to a rebuilding team with very low expectations. He can't go wrong. Don't believe me? After putting CuJo in the shootout after Toskala played a fairly good game, he said, "Why not? Got nothing to lose!" And he's right. He is probably the only coach in the league with nothing to lose. And it is tough to judge a coach when he has nothing to lose because he looks like a genius with pretty much anything he does. If he loses, people say "good! Young guys are still getting experience and we will have a high draft pick" If he wins, people will crown him as king. Pat Quinn, no question. And I believe it is still WAY too early to see if Ron Wilson is a good coach for the Leafs or not

I would say it's very close between Burns and Quinn. I wasn't totally into Quinn's style, but with the players he had, he was an excellent fit, and as they say, the results speak for themselves. But - and this is a big but - he did have one of the better teams as well.

Personally, with a generic team, I'd take Burns over Quinn.

So far, I'm liking what Wilson has done - but as others have wisely pointed out, it's still early days, and with this team, there's lots of room for forgiveness . . .

Obviously Burns and Quinn should be the top choices. Burns Coached 281 games over 4 seasons and had a win % of .546. Quinn coached 574 games over 8 seasons and had a win % of .591. Both .500 records in the playoffs and both played about the same amount of playoff games per season. Statistically, the choice would be Quinn as the "Most Successful" coach.

Another interesting thing to note is looking at games with points. What I mean by that is a game won or a tie will produce some kind of points for the team. Burns % of games with points was .619 and Quinn's was .658. Other than Quinn and Burns, Nick Beverly in 17 games in 1996 was the only other Leaf coach to have a winning record and the these three are the only coaches that had over .500 games with points.

Basically, Burns and Quinn are the only coaches that made the Leafs anything in the past 20 years. Personally, I have always like Pat Burns as a coach. Never been the biggest fan of Quinn, but I wouldn't complain too much if he was the head coach of my favorite team.

Guest4381 ( )

Posted - 11/10/2008 : 07:17:52

toss up between John Brophy or Dan Maloney

Guest2741 ( )

Posted - 11/10/2008 : 13:33:55

Its close between Wilson, Burns and Quinn. Wilson is doing an amazing job considering what hes working with. Burns produced results and Quinn did to for that matter (results, good but not great). Burns was a hard ass and i think thats what works the best for a coach.

i agree with most. Burns, Quin and so far Wilson. Still to early to tell about Ronnie.

Burns was a hard ass and i like that style. Wilson has the balls to bench players and the players are young and want to play so they are buying into it.

Quinn has good numbers but the only thing i did not like is that it didn't matter if the verterans did not perform, there did not seem to be any consquences from Quinn.

Guest9934 ( )

Posted - 11/08/2009 : 11:43:26

Pat Quinn be cause in 2002 not only did he coach but he was the gene ral manager that led the team to the third roundnow thats a guy who had full control of his team cause if he needs a player he goes out and gets it.

Guest5026 ( )

Posted - 11/09/2009 : 13:56:17

old era punch imlach. the best modivator ever id say. lately have to say burns because he was the closest to a cup berth since '67 and a players coach like quinn.

not even close definately Pat Burns. Burnsy had more character than even ron wilson (who i love) and took them to back to back conference final appearances, ya ya pat quinn beat him in 94 you give me pavel bure and i woulda won too. Pat Quinn is a great hockey guy but not enough coaching innovation, every teams hes coached the players inevitably quit on him.

Quinn, hands down. Not only was he the most statistically successful coach in the last 20 years of Leafs history, he also hung around for 8 years. In a city like Toronto, where the fans start screaming for the coach's head if the team loses 4 in a row, eight years is an amazing tenure. As well, as GM he assembled not one, but two teams who went to the conference finals. All of the stuff about the high-priced veterans carrying the team those years is ridiculous. During the second playoff run, almost every key veteran, except for Curtis Joseph, was injured and the team was carried by a bunch of younger (used loosely) players who played with a chip on their shoulder and the team bowed out once the high-priced guys came back. Any coach who can lead a team without any of their big stars that far into the playoffs, especially in a place as tough to play in as Toronto, deserves to be called one of the best.

From my perspective Maurice. Kidding, actually I think Quinn for sticking around longer and post season success with an inferior team to the one Burns inherited. I always respected Quinn even though I hated his team. All the Ottawa shots aside, they on paper should have won ever round they lost to TO. My thought is because Quinn built a team around heart and character, not flash and stardom. Hard to do in TO.

Guest9304 ( )

Posted - 12/17/2011 : 21:40:01

ron wilson sucks large pp and pk suck huge wilson couldnt coach pee wee brian burke is trying to build team america flashy but no heart i used to be the biggest leaf fan but they wont make the playoffs again

Guest8414 ( )

Posted - 12/17/2011 : 22:22:46

I'm young enough that it still feels weird seeing anybody but Pat Quinn coaching the Leafs, and I know he's been gone for a while...

It is intersting to read this thread at this point as it is very similar to the situation today. At that time, Maurice was the scapegoat and Wilson the savior. Today, Wilson is the scapegoat and Carlyle is the savior.

I am not one of those hindsight guys but it is interesting to read the Wilson comments of 4 years ago echo the Carlyle comments of today. Generally speaking, not intended to point our anyone specifically.

I wish I was a member on this site when this thread originally started, I was sad to see Maurice go, a coach good at developing young talent, and management trading away any young/ future stars they had, wasn't a good mix. Though when Wilson came in I was interested to see what he could do, but I was never impressed, and was ready to give up on him after year 1. Funny thing is, I still think Paul Maurice would be a great fit for this team right now. But to the original topic, Pat burns, IMO was one if the best coaches of all time, therefore best leaf coach, best devils coach, and the best habs coach in the past 20 years